John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 13

Remember also that each "seeing" is colored by our own perceptions. Also keep in mind that no matter how powerful an experience may be, it is never a good idea to believe in it totally. These "seeings" are only a representation of the truth. They are very likely to be culturally conditioned. Just one example is that Dee's archangels all had the conventional Christian names and they spoke remarkably correct English! Was Dee totally deluded during his association with Kelley? The mass of public opinion then and now claim he was. However, no one interested in the esoteric and the occult is likely to say that there is not great value in his work. John Dee did make several serious mistakes. The most outstanding and amazing mistake he made was in asking the angels and the spirits all kinds of mundane and even stupid questions. He did this even though he claimed to be on a great quest for esoteric truth and knowledge! These questions he could not seem to resist asking were often about money, politics, and personal business. One almost wonders that an angel wouldn't be offended by some of these! Here are some examples: "Is the Queen of England alive or dead?" "[Does her majesty...cause my rents to be received...?" "As concerning Adrian Gilbert, what pleaseth you to say of him, and his intended voyage...I beseech you, how shall his provision of money from home serve his turn...?"

"You ask childish questions," replies Madimi peevishly. Of a journey: "Whom shall I have in my company beside John Pontoys?" Then there is this one, "As concerning the bereaving me of my own goods, I would gladly understand who hath my silver double gilt bell-salt, and other things here of late conveyed from me." We have to hope Kelley wasn't joking when he asked: "Will you Madimi: lend me a hundred pounds for a fortnight?" Dee appears to have confused the goals and aims of scrying with those of divination. Divination seeks to gain information with various methods and within certain limits. Scrying is an attempt-again using various methods to achieve access to different worlds or inner planes. Scrying makes no attempt, however, to limit what is found in these explorations-it is much less bounded than Divination. Kelley does seem to have had genuine clairvoyance and very accurately reported what would shortly happen. From a spirit communication: "As for thy books, thou mayst go look at them at leisure. It may be, that thy house may be burnt for a remembrance of thee too." This took place before any news of the buring of Dee's house at Mortlake occurred. However, there are examples of false prophecy and simply examples of exotic imagination. Here is a fascinating prophecy of a turn in history that Britain definitely did not take:

"After the death of our dear Queen, one of the house of Austria made mighty by the King of Spain his death, should invade and conquer the land...He said, one (now abroad) should at Milford Haven enter, and by the help of the Britons subdue the said conqueror. And that one Morgan a Briton should be made King of the Britons, and next him, one Rowland etc." I think much of what has been said here about Dee and his workings with Kelley could also go into the Trickster phenomena more-perhaps a subject for a future article. And with the example just stated about history I think a few things (maybe a future article also) could be said about parallel timelines and the like. For now I will just wonder-and this only as a question-NOT a theory-was Kelley in the British history that didn't happen seeing a turn of history in an alternate universe?-or maybe a mixture of hisories even? Perhaps this one was even an example of the Cosmic Joker showing up with false information? Here is an example of lurid imagination in an unpleasant fantasy about Jane Dee: They take up your wife, her head waggleth this way and that way...Your wife is dead, all her face is battered. The right side of her face, her teeth and all is battered.

Perhaps the most dangerous of Dee's habits was to believe everything that the "good" angels told him. The ultimate outcome of this led to the infamous "wife-swapping" event, where Kelley said that he and Dee were commanded by the angel Uriel to use their wives in common. Symbolically, one could see that this episode resonated with alchemy. The four elements (represented by the four people involved) are to be brought together in order to fertilize and inspire the Great Work. In 'real-life', however, this made Jane Dee and Kelley's wife very depressed. John Dee himself, had a great deal of anguish about this also: Hereupon we were in great amazement and grief of mind, that so hard and...so unpure a doctrine was propounded and enjoined unto us of them, when I always...did judge and esteem undoubtedly, to be good angels: And unto E.K. offered my soul as a pawn. Like Abraham, though, Dee appears to have convinced himself to be ready to obey the Lord's command: I said...'Jane, I see that there is no other remedy, but as hath been said of our cross-matching, so it must needs be done.' Thereupon she fell a weeping and trembling for a quarter of an hour. Jane was much younger than Dee, only 32 at the time, and could easily have fallen prey to Kelley's lust if he had made up the whole affair.

The final twist in this episode was an "edict" from "God" that if any of them spoke out about the matter they would be instantly struck dead! Other questionable events and practices include Dee's compliance in using his young son Arthur as a medium and his willingness to burn his precious writings in a furnace, from whence they would be magically restored to him. Here, unless you believe a miracle to have occurred, it is hard to escape the suspicion that with these events and the wife-swapping Kelley was perpetrating deceit and fraud upon a gullible Dee. It is also quite possible that Kelley himself couldn't tell reality from fantasy any longer and that he could deliberately cause such episodes (others included miraculous appearances of magical paraphernalia) while still believing in their reality himself. Dee had pushed Kelley so hard in his quest for angel magic that it is more than possible a great deal of blame for the further disintegration of Kelley's personality lies with Dee himself. Finally, Dee made the mistake of ignoring the many warnings he was given many times by the angels and spirits. This was very strange, because in warning after warning, they warned Dee that he was falling into a trap and waas prey to illusion. Interestingly, we can wonder: if Kelley was a disreputable, raving con-man and lunatic as so many suggest, then where were these very sensible and timely warnings coming from? Likewise if all the seeings and visions were true, then why did the angels need to warn Dee?

We are getting close to the end here. I don't know for sure-but maybe just one more article. It should be here early in August I hope. I am going to do a poem for tomorrow's post and then look up any other information for Dee I might need. I will probably be offline Sunday but maybe can have final article on Dee here Monday or Tuesday. I have a lot of different things I am working on now as time allows that I hope people will enjoy. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate your kind, thoughtful and intelligent comments! The information for the last four articles, including this one, is 99 percent information from an article Cherry Gilchrist did for Gnosis magazine for the summer 1995 issue called Dr. Dee and the Spirits. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by! The images-I forgot! The first one is a painting of Dr. John Dee-I will try to find out the artist. The next is a composite of pics of Danny Nunez from stevo at HMAS (sorry stevo-I stole again!) and the third is Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys who I think is cute. I hope I don't find out he is a jerk haha:)

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 12

What are the qualities of a "true seeing"? This is a hard question to answer because everything we can see and know is channeled through our perceptions. This is one area where Dee went wrong. He tried to discern between the real and false spirits but then expected the "real" spirits to give perfect guidance. We will never be able to talk about completely objective seeing. However, there are some 'landmarks' to help us recognize 'true seeings'. Clarity, power, and the integrity of the image are all important. Integrity used in this way would mean that the image holds together and appears to have a life of its own. "Meaning" is also important, although this can be tricky as it can have more than one interpretation, and also can be hard to describe in words. An event such as the hairs standing up on the back of your neck can be as good an indicator as any that something important is happening! Unfortunately our analysis of Dee will always be specualtive. The written records he left are very detailed and also shed light on the mood and other psychic and physical senses of any particular session. But we were not there experiencing these heavily charged events with the men. When using terms such as "psychical events" "spirits" or "inner planes" it is very useful to have a system to differentiate the different levels of being encountered and the denizens of them.

There are many different systems one encounters when exploring these inner realms of the soul. An unwritten tradition of women's seership gives a five level structure of the inner planes. These levels not only correspond to "seeing" but also to levels of our own psyche. The first level represents the primitive and elemental. This level is connected with the roots of humankind. Animals and birds may appear at this primal level. Such totemic appearances are also reported by shamans, alchemists and people practicing sexual magic. Because this level puts one in touch with primeval energies; manifestations of this level can include anger and sexual arousal, and igniting these energies would be one method of entering this realm. Kelley's frequent anger comes to mind here, and certainly appears to have added fuel to the fire and energized the sessions. However, it seems that Kelley's inability to keep a reign on his feelings meant that he could not interpret or handle material of greater refinement at this level. Dee, of course, wanted to visit the higher and more subtle realms than the first level, and it is a sure bet this likely influenced Kelley during the sessions. There is an example in the records that happened when Dee wasn't present: After dinner, as E.K. was alone, there appeared unto him a little creature of a cubit high and they came to the still where he had the spirit of wine distilling...And one of them showed him how to distill it, and separate it better."

These seem to be a kind of elemental spirit with a special interest in alchemy: one of them kept Kelley talking till two in the morning. An incident that also could have been connected to this level involves two "very great monstrous" bears which emerge in turn from out of a mighty forest; the first eats a black hawk and attacks a white one, while the second devours a moon from a castle sundial and shakes a castle into ruins. Though these images also have an alchemical atmosphere, they also resonate with the mighty power found in natural winds and earthquakes. The second level is the level of education, training and conditioning. It represents the social psyche. This level appears often in Dee's work and in 'modern' forms of visualization. A great many images and events can be witnessed at this level. It has movie-like attributes but is much more than just fantasy. Here people can meet guides and instructors, each being with a distinct personality. This realm also has a playful aspect, and certain Trickster archetypes can appear here. Madimi was one among many spirits who appeared to Kelley frequently on this level going by Dee's records. Madimi: Am I not a fine maiden? Give me leave to play in your house," says this "pretty girl" of 7 or 9 years of age" at Dee and Kelley's first session.

Also there was the ragged actor Il, who had an ironic sense of humor: Room for a player. Jesus, who would have thought I should find you here?" The third level is the level of magical initiation. At this level also, many fascinating things are encountered. Gateways between this world and the next and portents of birth and death are witnessed in this realm. Beings encountered here have both a majestic and mysterious nature. The seer may also witness rites or images of events pertaining to other esoteric traditions when passing through a door in this realm. The following "seeing" can definitely be said to be an alchemical parable: A woman cometh, and with a spade diggeth about (a large mound of earth). Now cometh a child...out of a dark place, with a fire shovel in his hand. The woman hath taken away all the earth, and there appeareth water, where the earth was. The boy casteth out of that water with the fire shovel. The woman laugheth at that. The woman is in green clothes, and the boy in red. Now cometh and old man with a crabtree staff on his back, his clothes of metley color. This old man taketh the glass from the woman by force, with his fist he breaketh the glass, and all the oil runneth about his arm, and out of that oil did seem a book to come, a very little book...?"

Once the book appears in this seeing, Kelley apparently rose to the next and fourth level. This level is dominated by creative, intellectual and abstract powers. Forms and images can appear at this level with crystal clear simplicity. The fourth level is where breakthroughs come in visionary solutions to mathematicians and scientists for example. Kekule with his dream/vision of the Ouroboros and the Benzene ring solution come to mind. The visions at this level can take on a dancing, indefinable quality, or to even appear as forms of light. In the esoteric systems of the major religions, the fourth level is where the realm of the angels would possibly begin. Dr. John Dee's angelic writing and number codes could very well have emerged from this realm: the session just quoted goes on to reveal "holy characters" and various sequences of letters and numbers. The fifth level is the highest that can be perceived through our inner senses and psyche. At this level the beings who are encountered and their activities are far removed from our mundane level of reality. Kelley spoke in awe of one of these visions: He is become a great pillar of Crystal higher than a steeple. He ascendeth upward in clouds, and the little circle remaineth.

Whether it is symbolic or not, it is not unusual for only the feet of such high beings to be perceived in Dee's records: I see two lions..and the lions' feet be waxen greater and greater...I see a great company of feet, and their garments' skirts somewhat above their ankles. The fifth level may give us a sense of 'what is,' a degree and a level of higher ordering in the universe that we can't influence in any normal fashion bu which we may try to embody in our work. An example of this in Dee and Kelley's sessions comes from the unpublished manuscript of one of their early workings. In this "divine necessity" as it was later to be described, becomes manifest: All is suddenly dark, and nothing to be seen, neither chair, nor anything else. A voice...like Michael...saying "It was a bird, and is a bird, absent there is nothing but quantity." A voice "...The world is of Necessity. His necessity is governed by Supernatural Wisdom. Necessity you fall and of Necessity shall rise again. Follow me, love me, embrace me: behold I AM." This was a very brief, simplified overview of the levels. The levels of reality vary greatly from one esoteric system to the next. I do think Professor Huston Smith in his book The Primordial Tradition, was correct in giving four major vastly different levels of reality. If reality is as wondrous as I imagine it to be at times, I could easily see how these four or five major levels could be infinitely subdivided into various hierarchies and gradations.

The image is a representation of the "magic table" Dee and Kelley used in their workings. There is more to come in this series-could just be one more article -not sure yet-and won't try to guess anymore! I so appreciate and enjoy your kind, intelligent and thoughtful comments. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by! Friedrich Kekule and his Benzene "ring" vision HERE I have tried to play with the Kekule link four times now-don't know what is wrong! You can get there by clicking on the first link on page that shows up and then the first link after that if you have any interest-all the best!

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 11

What can be said of these spiritual conferences with angels and spirits? What tools do could we ever use to assess Dee and Kelley's findings? In any scrying session, a certain amount of imagery that comes from personal fantasy and association is likely to be encountered. Edward Kelley was an ill-tempered man and some of his visions reflect his own anger. One time in Prague, Dee had to call for help when Kelley turned against him with "great threats most terrible and dangerous." Three hours after this event Kelley's seeing begins with the following warlike imagery: Here appeareth Michael on your head...Hear appear 12 with him,4 behind him and 4 on each side of him, and all with swords of fire, and...all in red coats...Now they all kneel down about him. They look pitifully with their faces upward, as though they were praying, they be all in blood red Garments, and Michael his sword is as the sword I once did see him have; whose edge did open." Kelley's personality was unbalanced, and it is probable that the long and intense sessions with Dee troubled him even more. It seems that Kelley also had a strong sense of guilt. During Lent in 1585 Dee reports that Kelley was fasting to "ease his conscience of that burden of his sins, wherewith it was oppressed, and to wash away that filth which was contracted on his soul."

There were also times when Kelley believed he was possessed by evil spirits and desired exorcism from them. In an interesting vision from July 1583 Kelley reports: "Here appear 14 of diverse evil-favored shapes: some like monkeys, some like dogs, some very hairy monstrous men, etc. They seemed to scratch each other by the face. These seem to go about Madimi [one of their regular spirit guides]...[Madimi challenges the monsters and banishes them, saying:] "You came hither without license and seek to overthrow the liberyt of God and his Testament...Depart unto the last Cry: Rest with the Prince of Darkness..."They sunk all...downwards through the floor of the chamber, and there came a thing like a wind and plucked them by the feet away. Methinketh I am lighter than I was; and I seem to be empty, and to be returned from a great amazing; for this fortnight I do not well remember what I have done or said." This report came after a fitful episode when Kelley ran away from the Dee household in a sudden outburst of enmity for his wife and in fear that he would be hanged if he stayed there after being told this by the spirits. Once the exorcism was complete, Madimi tells Kelley calmly: "Thou art eased of a great burden...Love God, love thy friends, love thy wife."

Obviously it would not be wise to take everything that Kelley reported as a message from the angels. John Dee, who so much wanted to believe in Kelley was also cautious with the way he treated Kelley's information. Dee was esepecially untrustful of any workings that took place while he wasn't with Kelley: "I have found so much halting and untruth in EK his reports to me made, of the spiritual creatures, where I have not been present at an action." Dee was definitely not the unquestioning dupe that some commentators would lead us to believe. Some have called attention to the poetic quality of the communications of the angels of spirits. Many who note this seem to be implying that because of this there are divine truths behind the high-flown words of the "angels." Here we need to be careful. Many of the speeches are biblical, Kabbalistic and "stream of consciousness" outpourings. However sweet the words are, there is nothing in them that could not come from a familiarity with the Bible or the Kabbalah-which Dee and Kelley were undoutedly well versed in. In some of the communications Kelley goes from a balanced state to delivering messages that are increasingly apocalyptic as the session continues. Here is an example from 23 May 1587. at which the spirits of Understanding and Wisdom appear, maybe in the Kabbalistic sense as personifications of the sefira Binah and Chokmah: Here cometh another woman. All her attire is like beaten gold; she hath on her forehead a cross crystal, her neck and breast are bare under her dugs: She hath a girdle of beaten gold slackly buckled unto her with a pendant of gold down to the ground. "I am the Daughter of Fortitude, and ravished every hour, from my youth. For behold, I am Understanding and Science dwelleth in me...I am shadowed with the Circle of the Stone, and covered with the morning clouds. My feet are swifter than the winds, and my hands are sweeter than the morning dew...I am deflowered, and yet a virgin...I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin with such as know me not. For lo, I am loved of many, and I am a lover of many."

There is a pause and then Dee and Kelley receive further communication from a female spirit who proclaims: Wisdom is a piercing beam, which is the center of the spiritual being of the Holy Spirit, touching from all parts from whence the Divinity sendeth it out: and is proper to the soul, or unto substances, that have beginning, but not ending; so that whatsoever shall have an end, can never attain unto that which is called Wisdom." However, these thoughts on mystical philosophy are soon taken over by grim prophecies: Now cometh the time that the Whore shall be called before the Highest...And the hand of God shall run in vengeance, vengeance even though the Kingdom, and through Germany, and unto Italy; and in the twenty-third month in Rome shall be destroyed, so that one stone shall not be left standing upon another, and vengeance shall be on all the earth, and fear upon all the people...Woe be unto them, for they know not the time of their visitation." Pehaps Kelley's own inner demons could have occasionally provided the energy to shift the visualization to a higher realm of consciousness. In 1583 for instance, Kelley's brother had warned him that officers were on their way to arrest him as a counterfeiter. Kelley had already been convicted of forging money before he came into Dee's employ. The knowledge that Kelley's brother had imparted to him that morning put him in "a marvelous great disquietness of mind, fury and rage." When the two men began a spiritual conference that afternoon, Kelley heard "a voice about the show-stone very great, as though men were beating down of mud walls."

Soon there is a breakthrough: the "thumping" is swallowed up into a great silence, out of which a woman dressed in red, white, and green appears, who is said to be a Daughter of Light and who converses about the nature of pride in an enlightening manner. We can wonder what Dee could have achieved working with a wider circle of people. Kelley's volatility was, needless to say, not an ideal frame of mind to take part in these sessions. In more controlled conditions the shifts in consciousness probably would have happened less painfully. Dee also didn't have the advantage of greater objectivity that working with a group would have brought. In the best conditions, the group mind itself helps to empower and balance the work. I had to take a break and saved-or thought I saved a great deal of what was written to drafts. Well for some reason it only saved the material I had typed from the first break-so I could have got further today had that not happened! I still have more than 8 notebook pages of information written on both sides to put here-so it kind of seems-to me anyway that I am not going very fast. I am a terrible typist at the best of times usually and this also slows me down.

The image at the top is of Dee's "007"-this is the way he signed his communications to Queen Elizabeth-the double 0's meaning that he was the queen's "eyes." I am also going to give two links here to my friend Michael Skaggs' blog-The Hidden Agendas about "Enochian" information and provide a link about how this pertains to John Dee. Thanks again for your interest in this series and your wonderful and intelligent comments! I hope to be back soon with the rest-altho it may go to more than one or two more articles! Here are the links HERE and HERE and HERE is the wikipedia entry about Dee that tells a bit about his connection to Enochian magic under the "Later life" section (I might get into this aspect more if I keep going with the series) and if you scroll down to the "Reputation and significance" section in the wikipedia entry-the paragraph before the last in that section-there is a bit about a possible connection of his to the Voynich manuscript. That might be a subject worth a small series of its own-so thank you Xdell for commenting about it! Peace an be well to anyone stopping by!

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 10

"March 1oth 1582: 11:15 a.m. Saturday
One Mr. Edward Talbot came to my house...being willing and desirous to see or show some thing to spiritual practice...And I truly executed myself therin, as not in the vulagarly accounted magic...But confessed myself long time to have been desirous to have help in my philosophical studies through the company and information of the blessed Angels of God...He then seated himself to the action, and on his knees at my desk (setting the stone before him) fell to prayer and entreaty...And within one quarter of an hour (or less) he had sight of one in the stone. And after some thanks to God, and welcome to the good Creature...I recquired to know his name. And he spoke plainly (to the hearing if Edward Talbot) that his name is Uriel. "Are you one of them," (said I, John Dee) 'that are answerable to this stone?' URIEL: 'I am.'

This was the first meeting that began the astonishing partnership of John Dee and the scyer Edward Talbot. Talbot would soon come to be known as Edward Kelley. By this time, Dr. John Dee was a living legend. He was a man of such skills of observation and learning in so many different areas of knowledge that many not only respected him to the utmost, but many feared him because of his esoteric knowledge. In the time of the Elizabethan Age the great universal hierarchy and the existence of angels were widely believed in and taken for granted by many. But most people of the age feared the supernatural and anyone who claimed to be in contact with angels or hidden powers would be viewed with deep suspicion by most alive at the time. Remember that the Devil and his legions of demons were as real to these people as God and his angels-and of course the Devil was a master of trickery. How, people from the common folk up to royalty asked, could a magus know for sure that he was dealing with friendly spirits and not the "Prince of Lies" fooling him with deceits? Dr. John Dee's Sagittarian ascendant horoscope showed he was a bold adventurer and not averse to take risks in his quest for knowledge. The navigational errors he made (he also knew much about the mechanics of physical navigation) could provide us with landmarks that say "Here be Dragons!" or "Stop!"

John Dee was born in 1527 and by the age of 15 in 1542 he began his studies at Cambridge. At this young age, he very quickly became known for his scholarship and brilliance of mind. In 1546 he became one of the original fellows of Trinity College. It was at Trinity where he became famous for constructing the giant flying beetle for the stage play that for some was just too good! This beetle to many in the audience was simply too wonderful-too real. Many thought that the giant beetle could only have been created with the help of the Devil. This incident began the pattern that would repeat for the rest of Dee's life; suspicion and backstabbing followed by success in some areas. Dee travelled after Cambridge, and gave a series of much acclaimed lectures in France. In France and elsewhere in Europe, Dee made the acquaintance of men who had esoteric interests and understanding. These men were versed in traditions like alchemy, magic and the Kabbalah. Of course, Dee was already an expert-even a savant in mathematics, classics, astronomy, astrology, navigation, history and antiquities. Medicine and law would soon be added to the long list of Dee's detailed knowledge. Dee was definitely a "hands-on" explorer and went on tours of England to record knowledge firsthand: from ancient monuments, local legends of hauntings and buried treasure.

People from all across England did trust Dee and sought out his knowledge-even coming from overseas. Queen Elizabeth I, whom he had chosen a coronation date for using astrological methods, was a regular visitor. Sadly, Elizabeth never gave Dee quite the respect he had hoped for. Dee also became famous as an author, especially for his preface to Euclid and for his treatise on his Monas Hieroglyphica-his glyph that symbolized and embodied cosmic unity. Dr. John Dee wanted to go beyond what books could tell him about the mysteries of creation. He wanted gnosis of cosmic creation and emanation. It isn't known with certainty if Dee was initiated into any particular esoteric practice. Some commentators think he was a key figure in the development of Rosicrucianism, and he definitely practiced forms of magic, Kabbalah and alchemy. Dee seems to have preferred being a lone practitioner of these arts however. Interestingly, doing his own studies proclaimed Dee a groundbreaker. But working individually meant working without the safety net that is usually provided by an established tradition. In the beginning, Dee was suspicous of Kelley. He was afraid Kelley was out to "entrap" him. Scyers didn't have the best of reputations. They were known to not only falsify information and cheat their employers. But they were also feared for their ways of leading a Christian soul astray and only dark paths trodden by evil spirits.

Since ancient times, however, there were precedents for communications with angels and other celestial beings. Cornelius Agrippa in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, published in the early 1500s, talks of the great cosmic ladder. In this vision, angels are the ministers of God's virtues. They also have knowledge of a powerful magic that can raise us to their level. "Wise men conceive it no way irrational that it should be possible for us to ascend by the same degrees through each world, to the very original world itself, the Maker of all things and First Cause...and also to enjoy not only these virtues, which are already in the more excellent kind of things, but also besides there, to draw virtues from above," wrote Agippa. So these practices were not unknown. But until Dee, and his Spiritual Diaries, which were not originally intended for publication, there were no such direct records as Dee and Kelley tried to understand these "angelic" communications. Apparently Dee used a scryer because he himself didn't have the ability to "see." He finally trusted Kelley enough to pay him a salary after looking for several years for a medium to work with.

The" spiritual conferences" with Kelley were painstakingly set up. Before a session there were purification rituals, prayers, psalm recitations and fasting. Kelley's visions usually appeared in a crystal or "show-stone." Gradually other devices were added to the ritual. There was an intricately constructed table, often referred to in the transcripts, and inscribed seal, and the famous obsidain "magic mirror," of ancient Aztec origin. The sessions were usually done in a study or oratory. However, flexibility was recquired when Dee and Kelley travelled abroad with their familes. Sometimes family life intruded as Dee notes in one session: "we were earnestly called for to Supper by my folks," this ending it. One unknown is how the transcripts of the sessions were kept so carefully and fastidiously. The "angels" often delivered speeches that were hundreds of words long. It is also doubtful they spoke at dictation speed! Some of the transcripts look like they were rewritten later in a different-perhaps more careful hand. A lot of the transcripts and recorded data are about Kelley's understanding of what the angels and spirits said to him and descriptions of them. The questions posed by Dee and Kelley would ask the angels for an answer. In the Spiritual Diaries a series of complex tables of letters and numbers appear that are apparently a key to the angelic language.

The image is of Dee and Kelley conjuring and communicating with a "spirit." I thought I got a bit further than I ended up-I still have 13 pages (both sides) of information to go! The information here and in the articles to come, is largely from a fantastic article called "Dr. Dee and the Spirits." This article appeared in the summer 1995 edition of Gnosis magazine and was written by Cherry Gilchrist. I hope to have the next article here very soon-maybe tomorrow. Thanks again so very much for your wise, thoughtful and intelligent comments! Peace and be well everyone!

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 9

The Spanish Armada (Spanish: Grande y Felicisma Armada, "Great and Most Merry Navy" or 'Armada Invencible', ""Invincible Navy") was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588. This navy had the express intention of overthrowing England's Queen Elizabeth I. King Philip II of Spain had been co-monarch of England until the death of his wife Mary I (Elizabeth's half-sister). He was a devout Roman Catholic and considered Elizabeth a heretic and illegitimate ruler of England. Philip had even supported plots to overthrow Elizabeth in favor of Mary Queen of Scots but Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned and she was finally executed in 1587. In addition, Elizabeth, who sought to advance the cause of Protestanism where possible supported the Dutch revolt against Spain. In retaliation, Philip planned an expedition to invade and conquer England, thereby suppressing support for the United Provinces (mentioned in previous posts in this series.) These were part of the Low Countries not under Spanish domination. Philip, with this measure also hoped to stop attacks on Spanish Possessions in the New World. The "Golden Age of Spain" (1521-1643) was during the time of the planned invasion. As a result of the marriage politics of the Reyes Catolicos, their grandson Charles V inherited the Castilian Empire in America, the Aragonese Empire in the Meditteranean (including a large portion of modern Italy), as well as the crown of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Low Countries and Franche Comte.

This empire was welded together through marriage-not conquest. After his defeat of the Castilian rebels in the Castilian War of the Communities, Charles became the most powerful man in Europe unrivalled until the Napoleonic era. It was often said during this time that it was "the empire on which the sun never set." This vast empire of the Spanish Golden Age (Spanish: Siglo de Oro) was ruled, not from distant inland Madrid, but from Seville. So times were very good for Spain when preparations were being made to sail against England. Philip was also supported by Pope Sixtus V, who treated the invasion as a crusade, with the promise of further subsidies should the Armada make land. The Armada appointed commander was also highly experienced, but Alvaro de Bazan died in February 1588, and Medina Sidonia took his place. The fleet set out with 22 warships of the Spanish Royal Navy and 108 converted merchant vessels, with the intention of sailing through the English Channel to anchor off the coast of Flanders, where the Duke of Parma's army of tercios would stand ready for an invasion of the southeast of England. The Duke of Parma was the son of Duke Ottavio Farnese of Parma and Margaret, the illegitimate daughter of the previously mentioned Habsburg Emperor Charles V. His mother was the half-sister of Philip II and Don John of Austria. He led a significant military and diplomatic career in the service of Spain under the service of Philip II, his uncle the King. He had fought in the Battle of Lepanto and then in the Netherlands against the English supported rebels.

The Armada achieved its first goal and anchored outside Gravelines, at the coastal border area between France and the Spanish Netherlands. While awaiting communications from Parma's army, it was driven from its anchorage by an English fire ship attack, and in the ensuing battle at Gravelines the Spanish were forced to abandon their rendezvous with Parma's army. The Armada managed to regroup and withdraw north, with the English flleet harrying it up the east coast of England. A return voyage to Spain was plotted, and the fleet sailed into the Atlantic, past Ireland. But severe storms disrupted the fleets course, and more than 24 vessels were wrecked on the north and western coasts of Ireland, with the survivors having to seek refuge in Scotland. Of the fleet's initial complement, about 50 vessels failed to make it back to Spain. The expedition was the largest engagement of the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604). The defeat of the Spanish Armada led to the Drake-Norris Expedition of 1589, also known as the English Armada against Spanish Possessions in the New World and against the Atlantic treasure fleets. The treasure fleets brought various agricultural goods, precious metals and gems, spices, silk and lumber to Spain from its New World conquests. The Crown of Spain taxed the wares and precious metals of private merchants at a rate of 20%, a tax known as the quinto real (royal fifth.) On the day after the battle of Gravelines, the wind had backed southerly, enabling Medina Sidonia to move his fleet northward away from the French coast.

Although their shot lockers were almost empty, the English pursued in an attempt to prevent the enemy from returning to escort Parma. On 2 August (Old Style), 12 August (New Style) Howard called a halt to the pursuit of the Spanish in the latitude of the Firth of Forth off Scotland. By that time, the Spanish were suffering from thirst and exhaustion, and the only option left to Medina Sidonia was to chart a course home to Spain by a very hazardous route. The threat of invasion from the Netherlands had not yet been discounted by the English, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester maintained a force of 4,000 soldiers at West Tilbury, Essex, to defend the estuary of the River Thames against any incursion up river towards London. On 8 August (Old Style) 18 August (New Style) Queen Elizabeth I went to Tilbury to encourage her forces, and the next day gave to them what is probably her most famous speech. The Spanish, in trying to get back to Spain in damaged ships (some of the ships' hulls were bundled together with cables), supplies of food and water running out (even the cavalry horses had been thrown into the sea) added to their misfortune by making a devastating navigation error. Then off the coast of Scotland and Ireland the fleet ran into a series of powerful westerly gales, which drove many ships towards the lee shore.

Because so many anchors had been abandoned during the escape from the English fire ships off Calais, many of the ships were incapable of securing shelter as the reached the coast of Ireland and were driven onto the rocks. The late 1500s, and especially 1588 were marked by unusually powerful North Atlantic storms, perhaps associated with a high accumulation of polar ice off the coast of Greenland, a characteristic phenomenon of the "Little Ice Age" which some scientists date as lasting as long from the sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. As a result many more ships and sailors were lost to cold and stormy weather than in combat. Following the gales it is estimated that 5,000 men died, whether by drowning and starvation or by the hands of the English after they were driven ashore in Ireland, only hald of the "Invincible" Spanish Armada fleet returned home to Spain. By contrast English losses were comparatively few, and none of their ships were sunk. The Battle of Gravelines is regarded by specialists in military history as reflecting a lasting shift in the balance of naval power in favor of the English, in part because of the gap in naval technology and armament it confirmed between the two nations, which continued into the next century.

In the words of Geoffrey Parker, by 1588 'the capital ships of the Elizabethan navy constituted the most powerful battlefleet afloat anywhere in the world. However after its defeat in the Armada campaign the Spanish Navy also underwent a major organizational reform that helped it maintain control over its home waters and ocean routes well into the next century. The boost to English national pride lasted for years, and Elizabeth's legend persisted and grew long after her death. The repulse of the Spanish naval fleet also gave heart to the Protestant cause across Europe, and their belief that God was behind the Protestant cause was shown by the striking of commemorative medals that bore the inscription, He blew wiht His winds, and they were scattered. Some more light-hearted medals were struck, such as the one with the play on Julius Caesar's words: Venit, Vidit, Fugit (he came, he saw, he fled). The victory was acclaimed by the English as their greatest since the Battle of Agincourt. Agincourt was an English victory over a much larger French army in the Hundred Years War. The battle occurred on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) in northern France.

Here is a rather long quote from Paul Kennedy's 1987 book, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers that I had forgotten to include: "The post 1585 conflict with Spain placed both strategical and financial demands upon Elizabeth's government. In considering the strategy which England should best employ, naval leaders like Hawkins, Raleigh, Drake, and others urged upon the queen a policy of intercepting the Spanish silver trade, raiding the enemy's coasts and colonies, and in general exploiting the advantages of a sea power to wage war on the cheap-an attractive proposition in theory, although often difficult to implement in practice. But there was also the need to send troops to the Netherlands and northern France to assist those fighting the Spanish army-a strategy adopted not out of any great love of Dutch rebels or the French Protestants but simply because, as Elizabeth argued, "whenever the last day of France came it would also be the eve of the destruction of England." It was therefore vital to preserve the European balance, if need be by active intervention; and this "continental commitment" continued until the early seventeenth century, at least in a personal form, for many English troops stayed on when the expeditionary force was merged into the army of the United Provinces in 1594."

" In performing the twin function of checking Philip II's designs on land and harrassing his empire at sea, the English made their own contribution to the maintenance of Europe's political plurality. But the strain of supporting 8,000 men abroad was immense. In 1586 monies sent to the Netherlands totaled over 100,000 pounds, in 1587 175,000 pounds, each being about half of the entire outgoings for the year; in the Armada year, allocations to the fleet exceeded 150,000 pounds. Consequently, Elizabeth's annual expenditures in the late 1580s were between two and three times those of the early 1580s." The quotes from the Paul Kennedy book were on pages 61 and 62. Previous to the Kennedy information-most of the Armada information was from various links to wikipedia.

The first image is a painting by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg called "Defeat of the Spanish Armada" it was painted in 1787 and depicts the battle off Gravesend, France. The second image is "The Pillars of Hercules" with the motto "Plus Ultra" as the symbol of Charles V. The relief is a work done on the Town Hall of Seville in the 16th century. The last image is a painting of Philip II of Spain circa 1560. Tomorrow or the next day I should be able to start the article that is actually about John Dee and Edward Kelley-as opposed to all of this background. I had no idea I would be doing this much history information for the background to the Dee/Kelley information and am sorry if the title of the articles were misleading! At last I should be able to start the actual original article intended. I might even go beyond this-thanks in large part to Justin Russell and the links he left under the comments section of this series-but I do feel I will need to take a "breather" from Dee for awhile after the next few posts. It is over 17 pages of notes on both sides of large spiral notebook paper-so it should be at least enough for a few posts!

Peace and be well to anyone stopping by and thanks again so much for your thoughtful and intelligent comments! I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend! Link Here for Spanish Armada information.

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 8

I again rely heavily on Jane Dunn to get us to the point where my article about John Dee should come in. Hopefully it will be the next article after tonight's -not sure of the timeframe on it yet. This information is from pages 28 and 29 of Jane Dunn's Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens and begins talking about Mary Queen of Scots and her marriage to the short-lived Francis II of France and about Princess Claude's marriage to the Duc de Lorraine. "Across the English Channel cloth of gold was in similarly short supply. Mary was caught up in the flurry of preparations for another grand celebration at court. Only nine months after her own magnificent wedding, she was to be one of the leading guests at the wedding of the King's (Henri II's) second daughter, Princess Claude, with whom she had grown up. This girl was not yet twelve years old and was marrying the nominal head of the Guise family, Charles, Duc de Lorraine. This was yet another triumph for his uncle the Duc de Guise, "le Balafre," whose family consolidated further to its position at the heart of the French royal family."

Henry II (31 March 1519-10 July 1559) is the French King mentioned in this famous prophecy of Nostradamus-or so commentators say. I will provide a wikipedia link at the end of the article that talks about some controversy to the prophecy that I had never heard of before. If any readers have any thoughts of have also heard of this I would appreciate hearing from you as I thought this was one of Nostradamus' "slam dunk" prophecies. Here is the prophecy from Century 1 and Quatrain 35: The young lion shall overcome the older one/on the field of combat in single battle,/He shall pierce his eyes in a golden cage,/Two forces one, then he shall die a cruel death. I should mention that this is about Henri II's death days later from injuries he suffered in a jousting match.

Now back to Elizabeth and Mary this is the paragraph directly after the one quoted above: "Again no expense was to be spared. In a country still struggling under the levies of war, the young duke spent nearly 200,000 crowns, raised in taxes from his people, on the wedding and the week-long jousting and masquerades, which were traditional accompaniments to such regal nuptials. Part of his expenditure was on the livery of cloth of gold and silver for his team of twelve jousters and the matching eight to nine dresses of extravagant construction for the main female guests. Mary was presented with one of these creations, richly embroidered in gold and silver and lined with lynx's fur against the January weather. There were countless other beautiful gowns offered as gifts to ladies of the court."

"This display of ostentatious wealth and munificence was commented on even by the worldy-wise Venetian ambassador. Mary herself could not have been oblivious to the grandeur and self-confidence of her family inheritance exhibited at every possible occasion. United in her youthful person was the pride and valour of the Guises and the God-given pre-eminence as both a Stuart queen and-she hoped-a queen of the house of Tudor. This powerful dynastic mix was further enhanced through marriage with the mighty Valois, royal family of France. Born to all this, it was understandable if such a young queen had a share of the hubris of those she had grown up amongst. It made it difficult for her to recognize that even such certainty as her right to be the Queen of Scotland, the kingdom she valued least of all, was not immutable."

"Perhaps the same astrological phenomena Dr. Dee used were pored over by French diviners looking for auspicious signs, for this marriage was solemnised on 22 January, just a week after the coronation of Elizabeth as the new queen of England."

" Elizabeth's cornonation managed to be both a grand spectacle and yet intimately involving of her subjects. This ability to combine "a superb show" with a certain formality at great state occasions seems to have been a characterisitc peculiar to the English at the time, differentiating them from the Italian and French. A perceptive Italian observer in his eyewitness account commented on this, not entirely favorably: "the English having no Masters of the Ceremonies...and still less caring about formalities" seemed to rely less on pomp and ceremonial. He thought the cheery way Elizabeth answered back to the jocular crowds who clamoured for her after her coronation was equally deplorable. This informality and sensitivity to the popular mood was to appear to her Catholic observers to extend even into her attitude to religious worship and allow a fatal backsliding, they feared, to her brother's radicalism."

"This ability to unite grandeur with a genuine common touch was memorably displayed in Elizabeth's state entry into London on the Saturday afternoon, the day before her cornonation. The sky was dull with heavy snow clouds; in fact some snow even fell on the waiting crowds, some of whom had been out all night "their untired patience never spent, eyther with long expecting (some of them from a good part of the night before) or with unsatiable beholding of the Ceremonies of that day." There was thick mud everywhere, brought on by the rain and churned up by the increased traffic of carts and horses, and each house-holder had taken it upon themselves to strew sand and gravel in front of their houses to make the going less difficult. The whole court was present and so brilliantly arrayed the weather hardly mattered. They "so sparkled with jewels and gold collars that they cleared the air." Again, all of the previous material, unless otherwise noted is from the Jane Dunn book. I thought her writing and knowledge of the era would add greatly to this series. Next I would like to just state some more things about Dr. John Dee that I had put on tape recorder. I hope none of this is going back over old stuff. I just wanted to have a good background for the next-and maybe last-maybe not article in this series.

From the 1550s through the 1570s, Dee served as an adviser to the Crown on England's voyages of discovery. Providing technical assistance on navigation and ideological backing for the "British Empire," a term that John Dee was the first man to use. Dee wrote a letter to Willliam Cecil, First Baron Burghley in October 1574 seeking patronage. He claimed to have occult knowledge of treasure on the Welsh Marshes. This area is an imprecisely defined border between England and Wales. Dee also claimed to have knowledge of valuable ancient manuscripts at Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire. Dee knew that the Lord Treasurer's ancestors came from this area. In 1577 Dee published "General and Rare Memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation," a work that set out his vision of a maritime empire and asserted English territorial claims on the New World. Dee was acquainted with Humphrey Gilbert and was close to Sir Phillip Sidney and his circle. Sidney was one of the Elizabethan ages most prominent figures. He was famous for being a poet, courtier and soldier. In 1564 wrote the Hermetic work Monas Hieroglyphica (the Hieroglyphic Monad) an exhaustive Cabbalistic work of the interpretation of a glyph of his own design.

Meant to express to express the mystical unity of all creation. He travelled to Hungary to present a copy to Maximillian II, Holy Roman Emperor. His work was highly valued by his contemporaries but the loss of a secret oral tradition of Dee's milieu makes the work hard to interpret. Dee also published a mathematical preface to Henry Billingsley's English translation of Euclid's Elements in 1570 arguing the central importance of mathematics and outlining mathematics influence on the other arts and sciences. Dee''s work for the audience outside of the university setting was his most published an reprinted. In 1570 Dee argued in Brittanicae republicae synopsis for England's expansion into the New World. In this work he talked about the state of the Elizabethan realm and was also concerned with trade, ethics and national strength. His 1576 work on navigation, mentioned previously also argued for English imperialism and expansion. On the highly suggestive cover of this book, Brittania is seen kneeling and beseeching Elizabeth I to keep England safe by strengthening her navy. Dee used Geoffrey's inclusion of Ireland in Arthur's imperial conquests to argue that Arthur had established a British Empire abroad. John Dee also proposed that England exploit new lands through colonization. Dee posited a British claim to North America on the back of a map drawn 1577 to 1580.

In his Title Royal he invented the claim that the Madog ab Owain Gwynedd had discovered America with the intention of strengthening his claim that England's claim to North America was stronger than that of Spain. By the early 1580s Dee was growing dissatisfied with his progress in learning the secrets of Nature. And with his own lack of influence and recognition he turned to the supernatural as a means to acquire knowledge. Specifically he sought to contact angels through the means of a scryer or a crystal gazer who would act as an intermediary between Dee and the angelic realm. In 1582 Dee met Edward Kelley (then going by the name Edward Talbot) who impressed him greatly with his abilities. Dee took Kelley into his service and began to devote all his energies to his supernatural pursuits. These "spititual conferences" or "actions" were undertaken with an intense air of Christian piety with purification through fasting and prayer before. Dee was convinced of the benefits to mankind from these "communications." The character of Kelley is more difficult to assess. Some claim he acted with complete cynicism, but delusion or self-deception is not out of the question. The sheer volume of Kelley's output is amazing for its intricacy and vividness.

Dee maintained that the angels laboriously dictated the content of several books to him this way-some in a special angelic or Enochian language. In 1583 Dee met visiting Polish nobleman Albert Laski who persuaded Dee, Kelley and their families to accompany him to the continent in September 1583-the "angels" also prompted Dee to undertake the journey. But Laski proved to be bankrupt and out of favor in his own country. Dee and Kelley began a nomadic life in central Europe but they continued their "spiritual conferences" which Dee kept meticulous notes of. Dee also had an audience with Rudolf II (Holy Roman Emperor 1576-1612) and King Stephen of Poland in which he chided them for their ungodliness and attempted to convince them of the importance of his angelic communications. Neither monarch took him under their wings. During a spiritual conference in Bohemia in 1587, Kelley claimed that the angel Uriel had told him that he and Dee should share their wives. This caused Dee great anguish but he did not doubt its genuineness and apparently allowed it to go forward. Kelley, who was becoming a noted alchemist by this time and was much more sought after than Dee may have used this as a way to end the spiritual conferences. However, after this took place Dee ended the spiritual conferences and did not see Kelley again. Dee returned to England in 1589.

Dee returned to Mortlake to find his library ruined and many of his prized instruments and books stolen. He sought support from Queen Elizabeth who finally made him Warden of Christ's College in Manchester in 1592. This former college of priests has been reestablished as a Protestant institution by a royal charter of 1578. However, he could not exert much control over the Fellows who despised or cheated him. Early in his tenure he was consulted over the demonic possession of seven children, but took little interest in the matter. He did allow those involved to consult his still extensive library. He left Manchester in 1605 to return to London. By that time Elizabeth was dead and her successor, James I, was unsympathetic to anything related to the supernatural and provided no help. Dee spent his final years in poverty at Mortlake. He was forced to sell off various of his possessions to support himself and his daughter Katherine who cared from him until the end in late 1608 or early 1609 aged 82. There are no extant records or the exact date as both the parish registers and Dee's gravestone are missing. Dee was married twice and had eight children. Details of his first marriage are sketchy but is likely to have been from 1565 until his wife's death around 1576. From 1577 to 1601 he kept a meticulous diary. He married the twenty- three year old Jane Fromond in 1578. This was the wife that Kelley claimed Uriel had said they should share. Jane died during the plague in Manchester in 1605 along with a number of his children. Dee's son, Arthur, was also an alchemist and Hermetic author.

The antiquary, John Aubrey gives a detailed description of Dee, "He was tall and slender. He wore a gown like an artist's gown with hanging sleeves and a slit. A very fair, clear sanguine complexion...a long beard as white as milk. A very handsome man." John Dee was an intensely pious Christian, but his Christianity was heavily influenced by the Hermetic, Platonic and Pythagorean doctrines that were pervasive during the Renaissance. He believed that number was the basis of all things and the key to all knowledge and the key to God's creation was the act of numbering. From Hermeticism, he believed that human beings could have divine power. And he believed this divine power could be excercised through mathematics. His Cabbalistic angel magic was heavily numerological and his work on practical mathematics, navigation for example, were simply the exalted mundane ends of the same spectrum, not the antithetical activities many would see them as today. I will give a couple of links for this article this morning and hope to come back with more soon. I have been at this almost three hours I think and have to stop for now! I hope to be online tomorrow but if not-I definitely want to be Saturday. Here is a LINK about Francis, Duke of Guise and a LINK about the short-lived husband of Mary and king of France. With any luck many more links on the way! The Dee information was largely from wikipedia in this article. Thanks so very much for your great comments and be well all of you! The image is of a rose of the Tudor dynasty. Forgot the Henry II LINK the part about the Nostradamus prophecy is logically under the "prophecy" label in the wikipedia article.

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 7

I have always thought that some of the most fascinating thoughts on world history are the conspiratorial, esoteric-ummm things not being quite as they seem. This idea is just one that I hope to touch on in this series. These ideas can be as simple as things we know happened: for instance the conspiracy to kill Hitler-I should also mention here the absolute 100 percent reality of the Holocaust-for there are some numbskulls out there that don't think the Holocaust was the real series of atrocities that it was-or even existed at all! Uh yeah-Zyklon B and "The Final Solution" were simply code words for a new form of roach control! Oh and the walking skeletons you see in photographs taken in concentration camps after the Nazi regime fell-they were just extras-kinda like what you find in Hollywood!. I have always found people coming from this angle to be haters of Jewish folk. They will deny it under all sorts of refutations and folderall-but trust me on just this one thing if anything-people that deny the Holocaust happened hate Jewish people. That is one reason I refuse to visit certain sites on the net even though they may have a great database of other subjects.

In fact Professor Pan did a great expose of one of them and I will try to come back with a link to his article. The deaths of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy have long been proven in my mind to be what Jeff Wells at Rigorous Intuition calls "acts of state." Jeff also touches on the anti-Jewish contagion that unfortunately infects some in the field of conspiracy research in his book, Rigorous Intuition. From here I will skip over the many events from the latter part of the twentieth century through the years of our new century-everthing from other assassinations-including Pope John Paul 1 (oh yes-yet another series inspired by Rigorous Intuition might be in the works here if my neighbors don't whack my own bad self before then!), Pan Am 103, the Oklahoma City bombing and of course the biggest bugger of them all-September 11, 2001. There are some out there who would suggest that the money masters of the capitalist West bankrolled both the foundation of Nazi Germany and the nascent Soviet Union. These ideas are what I call the BIG conspiracy theories-and you know what? I think the people that have done research like this just might be onto something. But I digress-as usual:) What I am trying to get at, using too many words is that sometimes our history books may not tell us the whole story. And with John Dee-maybe just maybe a person who rates a footnote in most serious studies of history, was perhaps a much more important individual than given credit for.

Now I would like to plug another book! The lovely author Jane Dunn who has written a biography of Mary Shelley, a study of the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, and also a groundbreaking work on the life of Antonia White authored a beautiful 2004 book called Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals and Queens. Jane Dunn is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Like Rigorous Intuition, the music of Linda Matos and other books, poetry and works of art that I have shouted out here and those I hope to in the future I would feel absolutely secure in offering a refund to readers of my blog who purchased the book and found it wanting. I actually hope to be able to do this with these things if my financial situation ever turns around. Of course one must qualify certain things. I would suggest buying this book iff (iff=if and only iff if I remember geometry and college algebra right!): You have an interest in women in power, feminism, Elizabethan England, Mary Queen of Scots, international relations of the time period, customs, how men and women related to each other then. I also very much enjoyed how Jane Dunn breathed so much life into the people and timeframe she talks about in the book and also the powerful emotions she portrays with an expert skill. Jane Dunn-you get the My Favorite Monsters seal of approval (as if you care:). If you were a man I could offer to do certain things for you-or should I say iff and only iff you were a man! Sorry folks-you know how bad insomnia worsens my already horrid sense of humor! I do have one thing I could offer if you so fancied. I could dress up as Peter Cottontail and chase you around with an egg beater as I sing my version of I think I'm Going Out of My Head by Little Anthony and the Imperials! And of course if you do not wish me to do this you (which I am just assuming on a hunch:) you could just let me quote from your book!

So here goes from pages 27 to 29 in Jane Dunn's Elizabeth and Mary: "Court Life had revived within the month. Having been secluded for so long, careful to be seen as modest, scholarly and not overly ambitious, Elizabeth now joined her courtiers, feasting and dancing into the early morning. Her physical vitality reminded the older ones present of her father when a young man, but unlike him, her energy and physical fitness lasted well into late middle-age when she could still hunt and dance her noblemen to a standstill. Elizabeth began that Christmas to exhibit something of her capacity for epic enjoyment. In another dispatch, Schifanoya was rather disapproving: "The Court is held at Westminster, and they are intent on amusing themselves and on dancing till after midnight," he sniffily reported to the Mantuan ambassador at the court of Philip II in Brussels. A month later he was deploring "the levities and unusual licentiousness at Elizabeth's court, refusing to detail the profanities acted out on the feast of the Epiphany, traditionally Twelfth Night, when mummers dressed up as crows wearing the habits of cardinals, or as asses in bishops' regalia and wolves in abbots' clothing. While the court and the young queen greeted this ribaldry with wild laughter, our devout Italian observer was not amused at the wider implications as to Elizabeth's intentions towards the true religion: "I will consign it in silence."

"The timing of the coronation was of crucial moment. With the implicit threat from the French with Mary Queen of Scots' claim to the English throne in their pocket, and the obdurate insistence of two popes that Elizabeth was illegitimate, it seemed politic to claim her crown as soon as possible. By then it was well-established law, "that the crown once worn quite taketh away all Defects whatsoever. But these new Elizabethans had a complicated relationship with the supernatural. A teeming spirit world coexisted with the material, and divination, astrology, alchemy and other esoteric beliefs flourished as part of the natural sciences. Nostradamus was closely consulted for his prophecies (Catherine de Medici, the mother-in-law of Mary Queen of Scots, was a particularly fervent devotee). According to the seer, 1559 was an inauspicious year: to anyone who could read or was susceptible to tavern gossip there was not much better to be hoped for than "divers calamities, weepings and mournings" and "civil sedition" which would sweep the land. It was not the best omen for the beginning of the reign of another woman and it added to the atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty."

" Lord Robert Dudley was entrusted with a mission to seek out Dr. John Dee, a remarkable and learned man, who was to become Elizabeth's own consultant philosopher and who numbered astrology amongst his many accomplishments. Unlike Nostradamus with his mysticism, Dr. Dee was known for his more scientific approach to divination by mapping the positions of the planets. His task was to draw up a horoscope of the most auspicious day and time for Elizabeth's cornonation, the formal birth of her reign. Apparently the best astrological augury pointed to 15 January 1559, with Jupiter, the chief god of the planetary system, positioned satisfactorily in Aquarius, to signfiy a universality to this Jovian power and Mars, the planet of war and assertive action, placed in indomitable Scorpio. The date of greatest promise was what the Queen accepted."

"The Christmas of 1558 was even busier than usual as everyone prepared for the coronation, working "day and night both on holidays and week days." There was such a run on crimson silk and cloth of gold and of silver that any sale of it was embargoed until Elizabeth had made her choice for herself and her household. Her noblemen and women were determined to cut a dash and make their mark. With a new reign there was much insecurity and jostling for position and preferment. This was the greatest opportunity for dressing up and showing off, parading one's wealth and influence to which one aspired. It was a chance to catch the royal eye."

There is a bit more to go with the Dee information from Jane Dunn's book. I hope I didn't quote directly from her book too much. I don't want to be in violation of any copyright laws or rules . I have enjoyed this book so much and thought the information in these pages was very pertinent to this series that I quoted more from the book directly than I realized at first. I asked someone who I thought would be very in the know about copyrights when I started the blog-and their answer was as long as you give credit to the author you should be fine-but I have noticed some differences in the way copyrights are worded and such. Perhaps there is a website that will tell about them or about.com or an agency I can call or email to be on the extra-safe side. Again everything in quotes, except earlier where noted is from Jane Dunn's Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens on pages 27 and 28. I will put the rest that is left-not sure how much in my own words and hope to get it here very soon. And of course the article I have planned all along is in the works-and it may not even be the end of the series. The image is The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth 1. The name of the picture is one of any three surviving versions of an allegorical panel depicting Elizabeth surrounded by symbols of imperial majesty against a backdrop of the Spanish Armada. I also hope to come back with the link to the Professor Pan article I mentioned before logging off for the evening. Peace and best wishes to anyone stopping by! The link to the Professor Pan article -actually a series here The articles Professor Pan has posted is about Jeff Rense. There are many other subjects on his site also besides this.

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 6

I think several quotes from Richard Smoley's excellent 2006 book: Forbidden Faith-The Gnostic Legacy about John Dee would be a great way to introduce the actual mystery and spiritualism of the man. The chapter in Forbidden Faith that the John Dee information is in is called "The Sages of the Renaissance." In this chapter Smoley focusses on how he would write the Gnostic legacy if it were turned into a drama. He sees two parts to the drama. The first act being the rise and fall of the dualist heresy, and the second great act is the entry of the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah into Western civilization. Later in the series I would like to talk about Enoch and Enochian magic in relation to John Dee and Edward Kelley. Smoley points out that some believe the Kabbalistic tradition began with Enoch, the first fully enlightened human being, who "walked with God" (Gen 5:22). Enoch was said to have been transformed into the angel Metatron, who guides the spiritual evolution of humanity. Metatron appeared before Abraham as Melchizedek and initiated him into the teachings of the sacred Kabbalah.

The pages where I quote from the book are from 118-120. "Because of the ambiguous role of the magus in Western civilization-who is seen sometimes as a sage, often as a charlatan-these figures have risen and fallen in the esteem of history, much as they did in their own day. John Dee, court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, the inspiration for the character Prospero in Shakespeare's Tempest, and the man who according to legend, conjured up the storm that sank the Spanish Armada, furnishes a vivid example. Dee (1527-1608) saw extremes of good and bad fortune in his life. At one point a close adviser to Elizabeth, he ended his years in poverty and disgrace. He espoused a version of the Christian Kabbalah that sought to reform the church; he also sketched out the ideal of a universal British monarchy that inspired the beginnings of the British Empire. And yet he became most famous for a strange series of encounters involving a medium named Edward Kelly (or Kelly). The record of these conversations with beings of the other world was published in 1659 under the title A True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits by a debunker named Meric Casaubon, who sought to discredit Dee's reputation posthumously and largely succeeded. Dee was generally regarded as a plain fraud until the twentieth century, when scholars began to see him as a key figure in the intellectual world of the Elizabethan Age."

Smoley goes on to point out that Dee had invoked the supposed Arthurian ancestry of the Tudor dynasty and its mythical rights to lands overseas to lay the groundwork for Elizabeth to take possession of these vast territories. John Dee wanted England to rule over the European continent instead of the extremely powerful Habsburg dynasty that at the time was Europe's greatest power. 1583 was the year that John Dee and Edward Kelley, along with their familes, began a six year tour of Central Europe. Prague was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire at the time and ruled by Emperor Rudolf II. Rudolf II was known for his religious tolerance as well as his interest in occult and esoteric matters. Apparently, Dee discussed with Rudolf his vision of a reformed Christianity that would be guided by esoteric principles. Dee also seemed to be prophesying that Protestanism would triumph over both Catholicism and Islam. Emperor Rudolf II wasn't greatly intrigued by Dee's vision. Smoley also points out that similarities between Dee's failures as a prophet and those of his contemporary Nostradamus. Of course, the idea of Nostradamus being a failure as a prophet has been argued for centuries-and many believe in his work today. The quatrains of Nostradamus were used during World War II by both opposing sides predicting defeat for the other (so maybe that should tell us something of the fluidity of his prophecies)!

Unlike John Dee, Nostradamus was viewed with respect by the French court until his death in 1566, whereas Dee died in penury and near obscurity. Some reasons for this are that Dee's protectors had died. But even more importantly, hatred and suspicion of sorcerers and witches had grown. Smoley writes, "The public-and some of those in power-were not always able to distinguish a learned magus from a low sorcerer who trafficked in evil spirits. Indeed Christopher Marlowe's highly popular 1593 tragedy Doctor Faustus explicitly connected the two turning sorcery hunting into a popular craze. As a result the last two decades of Dee's life were a time of disappointment and impoverishment, made worse by the accession to the throne of James I in 1603. James was obsessed with witchcraft and had even written a tract against witches entitled Demonologie. Dee could expect no favors from him and did not receive any. In 1608, the old magus died in great poverty." The image is of one of John Dee's magical "sigils"-more about this later. I think I will write the next article on John Dee with the first source I had found-I don't know how long it will be but hope that it is interesting. From there maybe I can expand on the subject using internet sources and links that people like Justin Russell and Anadae have given. The articles below this one are all "history" but might be helpful explaining later events. Peace and be well to anyone passing through or stopping by!

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 5-Background

Acting against what he considered to be Protestant subversion, King Philip II of Spain (1536-1598) put his support behind the Catholic cause, which had been strengthened by the Council of Trent. Philip put at the Church's disposal the immense resources of the Spanish Empire, which from 1558 onwards were increased by the annexation of Portugal and its territories overseas. With the abdication of his father Charles V, the old rivalry between Spain and France led Philip to declare war once again on the King of France, Henry II; Pope Paul IV, who opposed any Spanish presence on Italian soil, supported the French King. Under the terms of the Treaty of Cambresis (1559), France retained Metz, Toul and Verdun, and recovered Calais, but had to give up its claims to Savoy, Italy and the Low Countries. Spain achieved supremacy this way on the western part of the European mainland. In 1565 it liberated Malta from the siege of the Turks. From this point forward there could be no doubt of Philip's dominant position. However, in 1568, fortunes changed for him. In the north Calvinism took root in the Low Countries. In sounthern Spain, the Moors, rebelled, while the Turks began a new offensive and captured Cyprus which had previously been held by Venice.

Philip II's first action was in the Meditteranean. In 1571 the Holy League formed by Spain, Venice and Rome destroyed the Turkish fleet at Lepanto. With the Turkish threat eliminated, Philip tried to subdue the Low Countries, which were supported strongly by England and France. With Queen Elizabeth 1 giving assistance to Dutch rebels, the attacks by English ships on Spanish possessions in America and also the execution of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, Philip II tried to invade England. The Spanish Armada, thought to be invincible, was to escort Spanish troops. The Armada's "invincibility' in the tradition of the ocean liner Titanic, centuries later was attacked by the English and destroyed by a storm in the English Channel in 1588. This catastrophe weakened Philip in his struggle against France, where he was supporting the Catholics against the Protestants. At the end of his reign, Philip signed a peace treaty with France and recognized its King Henry IV, despite his Protestant past. Philip II intended to rule the Low Countries as an absolute monarch and he fiercely suppressed Calvinism, which was spreading in the larger cities. In 1566 the Spanish repression sparked a revolution. A number of things gave rise to the revolt. The nobles were afraid of losing their power; the bourgeoisie thought taxes too high; and of course Calvinism exacerbated religious tensions.

The rebellion had its first success when Philip II had to dismiss the Cardinal Granvelle, Bishop of Arras. The nobles then demanded autonomy for the country and freedom to worship. Their doings stoked the religious fanaticism of ordinary people who had suffered a great deal from the economic crisis and they destroyed a number of Catholic churches. Philip then took measures that led to a general revolt in the Netherlands. Dutch Catholics and Protestants united under the leadership of William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, Stadholder or Governor of Holland and Zeeland. The rebels who called themselves Geuzen (beggars) seized Brielle and Flushing in 1572. The Duke of Alva, who had been appointed governor general of Holland by Philip was replaced by Don Luis de Requesens, who pursued a policy of religious tolerance. Then the Spanish soldiers, who had not been paid, sacked Antwerp and a general revolt began. The 17 provinces, Catholic and Protestant, united by the Pacification of Ghent in 1576, resumed their fight for freedom and autonomy once more. This time they fought the viceroy Don John of Austria, victor of Lepanto, who was unable to defeat the insurgents. Philip II's new envoy, Alessandro Farneses was a gifted negotiator. He managed to rally the ten Catholic provinces in the south by promising them political autonomy (the Union of Arras, 1579).

The seven northern provinces retaliated a few days later by forming the Union of Utrecht. The Low Countries were split in two. In 1588 the seven northern provinces established the United Provinces, loyal to Calvinism with the support of France and England, they won their independence in 1609 and were recognized by Spain when the Treaties of Westphalia were signed in 1648. The image is a painting of King Philip II of Spain of the House of Habsburg. Peace and best to anyone stopping by and I hope you are having or have had a great weekend! More on Philip II Here

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 4-Background

When the crisis between the Protestant and Catholic viewpoints had begun there were calls for and ecumenical council. In 1518 Martin Luther had called for a council "against an ill-informed Pope." Catholic humanists, including Erasmus, Luis Vives and Pope Adrian VI, had also called for a council, mentioning the fact it was in line with the traditions of the Catholic Church. In 1524 Charles V made the same proposal. However, successive Popes, afraid of the diminishing of their authenticity tried to use tactics to delay this. Paul III tried to reform the church by setting up a "Council of Cardinals on Church Reform." In 1542 Cardinal Carafa reorganized the Roman Inquisition, whose horrific methods were to suppress 'heresy.' In the end all of these measures failed. There was a necessity of reforming the church. Pope Paul III finally held a Council at Trent (Trento), a strategic location since it was an imperial city on Italian territory. This turned into a series of three different councils at different times between 1545 and 1563. The councils discussions were surprisingly open and free, although the Protestants shunned them. The conclusions of the Council of Trent defined modern Catholicism.

They reaffirmed Catholic dogma, in particular on points rejected by the Protestants: tradition, as well as Holy Scripture, was a source of revelation and a criterion of faith. The Council condemned predestination and justification by faith. It also reconfirmed the necessity of all seven sacraments and declared that Christ was really present in the Eucharist; it declared that the Latin Vulgate was the official version of the Bible. It reaffirmed the Church's hierarchy and the authority of the Pope; it maintained the celibacy of the priesthood and forbade the accumulation of wealth. All forms of religious instruction must be carried out under the strict authority of the bishops. Bishops and priests must reside in their individual dioceses and parishes, now reorganized; and the members of the clergy must be trained in diocesan seminaries. To fight Protestanism, new religious orders were established as part of the restoration of Catholicism as conceived by the Pope. Spain witnessed a growth of mysticism, largely due to the influence of St. Teresa of Avila. This spiritual revival also helped launch the Society of Jesus, an order founded in Paris by the Spaniard Ignatius de Loyola. Loyola (1491-1556) had been born into a noble family. He saw combat and was seriously wounded by the French at the siege of Pamplona in 1521.

He withdrew to the monasteries of Monserrat and Manresa, where he began writing his spiritual Excercises, then left on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land. Loyola decided to devote his life to God, and studied at Salamenca and settled at the College of Montaigu in Paris. The Society of Jesus was born on 15 August 1534 in the little Montmartre Church in Paris where Ignatius Loyola and six of his fellow students met to take their vows. The group went to Rome, where in 1540 Pope Paul III recognized the new order as the armed champion of faith. The order added the vow of absolute obedience to the Pope in addition to the three traditional vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to the abbot. The studies to obtain admission into the order were difficult with their strict discipline and intellectual training, the Jesuits became the essential corps of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The resurgence of the faith was continued by three great reforming Popes. Pius V put the Council's decisions into practice, Gregory XIII promoted religious education, and Sixtus V reorganized the central administration of the Church. These reforms enabled Catholicism to check the growth of Protestanism and recover much of the ground that it had lost.

The Company of Jesus had great success in Poland. Another Jesuit, Peter Carnisius had great influence on the restoration of Catholicism in Germany, France, Hungary and Bohemia. Lutheranism for now was limited to northern Germany and Scandinavia. Calvinism took hold in Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, England and western Germany. One post down and hopefully I can get two more done. I am trying to provide more background information to this era that John Dee lived in. Some of it may be very relevant to his story, like the sinking of the Spanish Armada, and some only tangential to the main topic. I just wanted to portray as complete a picture of the politics and religious differences of the time as I could-for these matters did end up having a great effect on Dee's life. Peace and be well! The image is a painting of the Council of Trent at the Santa Maria Maggiore Church.

John Dee & Edward Kelley & the Spirit World: Pt 3-Background

Queen Elizabeth I (7 September 1533-24 March 1603) was queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. She came to the throne after her half-sister, Queen Mary I, who had only been queen since 19 July 1553. Mary was the daughter of the previously mentioned Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. Mary is best remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism. During her short reign she had almost 300 religious dissenters burned at the stake, which earned her the unenviable sobriquet of "Bloody Mary." Elizabeth was sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen." She was expected to marry at some point but never did despite several petitions from parliament. As Elizabeth grew older, she became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants and literature of the time. Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. She was the daughter of Henry VIII, and was born a princess, but her mother Anne Boleyn, was executed three years after her birth. Anne Boleyn was likely innocent of the charges of adultery, incest and high treason, but that did not save her from being beheaded on 19 May 1536. After Anne's execution, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her brother Edward VI, cut her out of the succession.

In 1558, however, Edward's will was set aside and Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, Mary to the throne. Elizabeth had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. One of Elizabeth's first acts as queen was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into the modern Church of England. As a ruler, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and her siblings. Many of her counsellors didn't approve of this strategy, but it often saved her from political and marital mistakes. Even though Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, the defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588 forever tied her name with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Within twenty years of her death, Elizabeth was being celebrated as the ruler of a golden age. Her reign is also famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and the foreign adventures of men such as explorers Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and others. Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25. As her triumphal procession snaked through the city, she was greeted cheerfully by her subjects. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators.

The following day, 15 January 1559, Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey and anointed by the Catholic bishop of Carlisle. She was then presented for the people's acceptance, amidst the deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums and bells. On 20 Noevember 1558, Elizabeth declared her intentions to her Council and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. The speech contains the first instance of her often used metaphor of the "two bodies": the body natural and the body politic. My lords, the law of nature moves me to sorrow for my sister; the burden that is fallen upon me makes me amazed, and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey His appointment, I will thereto yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me. And as I am but one body naturally considered, though by His permission a body politic to govern, so shall I desire you all...to be assistant to me, that I with my ruling and you with your service may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth. I mean to direct all my actions by good advice and counsel.

Elizabeth and her advisors perceived a threat of a possible Catholic crusade against heretical England. Elizabeth sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too much while acknowledging the desires of English Protestants; she would not tolerate the more radical Puritans, however, who were wanting far more reaching reforms. As a result the parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on the Protestant after Edward VI, with the monarch as its head, but with many superficially Catholic elements, such as priestly vestments.

It was never clear why Elizabeth never married. Some speculate that she might have known she was sterile. Whatever the case, her last courtship ended in 1581 when she was 48 -well past child-bearing years. This was with a man 22 years younger than she. Elizabeth had kept the marriage question open, but often only as a diplomatic ploy. Parliament repeatedly petitioned her to marry, but she always side-stepped the question. In 1563, she told a imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar woman and single, far rather than queen and married." That same year, after her illness with smallpox, the succession question became an even greater concern. Parliament urged the queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war after her death. She refused to do either. The House of Commons threatened to withhold funds until she named a successor. In 1566, she confided to the Spanish ambassador that if she could find a way to settle the succession without marrying, she would do so. By 1570, senior figures in the government privately accepted that Elizabeth would never marry or name a successor. Elizabeth was often accused of negligence due to this failure. However, her silence on the matter strengthened her own political security; she knew that if she named an heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup.

Apart from courthship with a man she actually loved, her childhood friend, Lord Robert Dudley, Elizabeth treated marriage as an aspect of foreign policy. She had turned down Philip II's offer in 1559, but negotiated for several years to marry his cousin Archduke Charles of Austria. Relations with the Habsburgs declined by 1568. Elizabeth the considered marriage to the two French Valois princes in turn, first Henri, Duke of Anjou, and later from 1572 to 1581, his brother Francois, Duke of Anjou. The last proposal was tied to a planned allegiance against Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands. Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the disastrous occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, when Elizabeth's Huegenot allies joined the Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth had intended to exchange Le Havre for Calais, retaken by France in January 1558. She sent troops to Scotland in 1560 to prevent the French from using it as a base. In 1585, she signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the Dutch to block the Spanish threat to England. Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth puruse an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain-80% of which was fought at sea. She knighted Francis Drake after he circumnavigated the globe from 1577 to 1580, and he also won accolades for his raids on Spanish ports and fleets. There was an element of piracy and mercenary self-enrichement that drove Elizabethan voyages-much the same as other powers of her time, before and afterwards.

Elizabeth reign also witnessed the first colonization of new land in North America; the colony of Virginia was named by her. Elizabeth's policy towards Scotland was to oppose the French prescence there. She was afraid the French planned to invade England and put Mary, Queen of Scots, who was considered by many to be the true heir to the crown, on the throne. When Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 to take power, the country had established a Protestant church and was run by nobles who supported Elizabeth. Mary refused to ratify the treaty. Elizabeth had offended Mary by proposing her own suitor, Robert Dudley, as a husband. Instead, in 1565 Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who carried his own claim to the English throne. The marriage was the first of a series of errors of judgment by Mary that gave the victory to the Scottish Protestants and to Elizabeth. Darnley became unpopular in Scotland and then infamous for presiding over the murder of Mary's Italian secretary, David Rizzio. In February 1567, Darnley was murdered by conspirators, almost certainly led by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell.

Shortly afterwards, on 15 May 1567, Mary married Bothwell, arousing suspicions that she had been involved in the murder of her husband. Elizabeth wroter to her: How could a worse choice be made for your honour than in such haste to marry such a subject, who besides other and notorious lacks, public fame has charged with the murder of your late husband, besides the touching of yourself also in some part, though we trust in that behalf falsely. These events led quickly to Mary's defeat and imprisonment in Loch Leven Castle, near Kinross, Scotland. The Scottish lords forced her to abdicate in favor of her son James, who had been born in 1566. James was taken to Stirling Castle to be raised as a Protestant. Mary escaped from Loch Leven in 1568, but after another defeat fled across the border to England, where she had once been assured the support of Elizabeth. Elizabeth had thought to restore her half-sister and fellow monarch; but she and her council chose a more cautious route. Rather than risk returning Mary to Scotland with an English army or sending her to France and the Catholic enemies of England, they detained her in England. Mary was imprisoned there for the next nineteen years.

Whenever the next article is ready to go, it should finally have more information about John Dee and Edward Kelley. I just thought it might be good to have some background to this historical era-and will try to continue to talk about this era in these articles. The image at top is of Elizabeth 1 in her Coronation Robes. The next image is of Elizabeth as a younger woman and the last image is of Mary, Queen of Scots. Thanks again for your comments and best to all of you!